FL Supreme Court's ruling on abortion-rights referendum imminent, but late argument arises
With the Florida Supreme Court poised to rule any day now on whether the abortion-rights referendum can go on the November ballot, anti-abortion groups are arguing that the state Constitution already protects a right to life for embryos and fetuses.
Liberty Counsel and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America picked up on a question that Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz asked during oral arguments over the initiative’s ballot summary on Feb. 7 — does constitutional language protecting the rights of all “natural persons” extend to “an unborn child at any stage of pregnancy”?
Susan B. Anthony submitted a lengthy analysis on March 11 arguing that the Constitution says just that. But there’s no record in the case docket suggesting the court is considering that argument, which neither the initiative’s sponsors nor the state addressed in legal briefs or oral arguments.
The court faces a Monday deadline for deciding whether the proposed Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion can go before the voters. The justices have to determine whether the ballot summary, as the Constitution requires, “describes the chief purpose of the amendment or revision in clear and unambiguous language” and addresses a single subject. It would appear on the ballot as Amendment 4.
https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/03/27/fl-supreme-courts-ruling-on-abortion-rights-referendum-imminent-but-late-argument-arises/
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